David Cameron was challenged yesterday to a televised debate with Alex Salmond
on Scottish independence, after agreeing that a referendum will be held in
2014.

The Prime Minister and the First Minister of Scotland formally agreed a deal that will give voters in Scotland a chance to decide on the fate of a Union that has stood since 1707.

Mr Salmond then challenged the Prime Minister to face him head-to-head in a debate over the issue. Mr Cameron refused to be drawn.

He left it to Michael Moore, the Scottish Secretary, to explain that it was for Scottish advocates of the Union to take on the First Minister.

The Edinburgh Agreement will present Scots with a vote on independence by the end of 2014. Mr Salmond said the referendum would be “the most important decision that our country, Scotland, has made in several hundred years”.

Mr Cameron said the vote would be “historic” and vowed to persuade the Scottish electorate to back the Union.

The detailed terms of the referendum have been subject to a power struggle between London and Edinburgh.

In a victory for Mr Cameron, the referendum will offer Scots a single option to leave the Union. Mr Salmond had wanted a second option, to remain in the Union but have more powers devolved to the Scottish Parliament. However, the timetable for the vote is a setback for Mr Cameron, who had wanted an earlier referendum. Two years of campaigning will give Mr Salmond time to build support for independence. The most recent opinion poll showed support for separation at only 28 per cent.

“Just as I believe in independence, I believe in the ability of persuasion on this argument,” Mr Salmond said.

The First Minister also won a partial victory as Mr Cameron accepted that some – but not all – teenagers aged 16 and 17 will be able to vote in the referendum. That has left some Tories worried that teenagers will eventually be allowed to vote in general elections.

Mr Cameron said he was confident that Scots would ultimately conclude that Scotland was better off in the Union.

“We’re better off together, we’re stronger together, we’re safer together,” he said. “Let the arguments now be put and I hope that people will vote to keep this United Kingdom together.”

Mr Salmond wants to frame the campaign over independence as a choice between Conservative rule from London and a Scottish Nationalist administration in Edinburgh.

Trying to drag the Prime Minister into a personalised contest over Scotland’s future, he challenged Mr Cameron to face him in a televised debate.

“There will be a range of debates with a range of people in the campaigns but I will be delighted to debate the Prime Minister in terms of the future of Scotland and the referendum argument,” he said.

“I would do it next week, next year, anytime between now and 2014.”

Speaking before the signing ceremony, Mr Cameron said he would be campaigning “passionately” for the United Kingdom, but he would not be leading the argument against Mr Salmond.

The Prime Minister said: “Mine will just be one voice of many saying we think we’re better together, let’s stay together. You’ll also have the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrat Party, people of no parties at all, trade unions, businesses, enterprises, all sorts of people who will be coming forward I believe, to say how strong we are together.”

After signing the agreement in Edinburgh, Mr Cameron departed without answering journalists’ questions, leaving Michael Moore, the Scottish Secretary, to explain that the Prime Minister would not accept Mr Salmond’s challenge. Mr Moore said it was for Scottish advocates of the Union to take on the First Minister. “There are going to be lots of debates over the course of the next couple of years,” he said.

“The Prime Minister rightly said this was a debate that should be led by and feature people in Scotland. It’s a slightly curious decision that the First Minister wants to debate the future of Scotland with somebody from outside Scotland.”

Under the deal, the Westminster Parliament will pass to the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood the power to hold a referendum by the end of 2014.

The Scottish Parliament, where the SNP has a majority, will be able to set the question for the referendum.

The proposed question will have to be approved by the Electoral Commission, and there is speculation that if the commission does not endorse Mr Salmond’s chosen wording, Mr Cameron could try to impose a different question.

English, Welsh and Northern Irish voters will not be consulted about Scottish independence, but Mr Cameron said he would be fighting hard to persuade them too that the Union should continue.

As an incentive to remain in the Union, Mr Cameron has said that if the Scots reject independence, he will open talks with Mr Salmond about devolving more powers to the Scottish Parliament.